Bridal bounty: 5 tips to making the most of your wedding registry

Carolyn Sperry

Wednesday

Jul 29, 2009 at 12:01 AMJul 29, 2009 at 7:06 AM

What could be more fun for a bride-to-be than creating a registry?

It’s like a fantasy shopping trip, and those beautiful household items will be the backdrop for a couple’s new, married life. It may be tempting to just take that registry gun and zap half the items in the store, but a little planning is key.

Here are some tips for doing a registry right:

What could be more fun for a bride-to-be than creating a registry?

It’s like a fantasy shopping trip, and those beautiful household items will be the backdrop for a couple’s new, married life. It may be tempting to just take that registry gun and zap half the items in the store, but a little planning is key.

Here are some tips for doing a registry right:

1. Register in more than one place, and choose a wide variety of items. Your guests will probably have a broad range of tastes, budgets and ideas about what they’d like to give you. So make it easy for them. Just keep track of what you’ve registered for in each store to avoid duplicates. And read carefully about the stores’ return policies.

2. Before you register, think realistically about your lifestyle. Are you going to host holiday meals or have formal dinner parties? If so, fine china may be a great registry addition. But there’s no rule that says you must register for china at all if you prefer casual entertaining or you lack the space for extra dishes. Similarly, if you barely cook, think twice about having your guests drop their money on an expensive mixer that will languish in a cabinet.

3. Include your husband-to-be. Most men will have some opinions on household goods. Some brides question their fiancé’s taste, but married life is about compromise, after all, and this is a fun way to practice. If he really doesn’t care in the least about sheets or wine goblets, maybe he’ll add some fun things like electronics to the registry.

4. Consider non-traditional registries. In this day and age, many engaged couples — especially those who’ve been cohabitating for years — have all the household goods they need. But there are many, many other options out there. For example, Home Depot’s registry lets couples register for tools and building materials to fix up their home. Honeyluna.com allows guests to fund honeymoon luxuries such as spa treatments or candlelight dinners. At JustGive.org, couples choose from a long list of charities for guests to contribute to instead of gifts.

5. Have fun. Choosing the items you’ll love for years is a privilege. Don’t be shy about registering for a lot of items — you’re just giving your guests more things to choose from, not insisting they buy them. Consider putting a few big-ticket items such as furniture on the list. Oftentimes a group of co-workers, for example, will go in on a large item.

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Get creative with your guest book

Instead of a traditional guest book that you’ll never look at again, try a fun, contemporary option.

- Guest book photos or art: Guests can sign the mat surrounding a photo of the two of you (which you can later replace with a wedding photo), a scenic picture of your church or wedding venue, or a painted portrait of you and your groom. There are professionals who make custom “wedding art,” but if you have an artsy friend who could paint a picture or take a special photo, that’s even better.

- Scrapbooking: If you’ve been swept up in the scrapbooking craze, a guest book is the perfect place for you to get creative. Set up a Polaroid camera and have guests take photos of themselves to include with their wedding wishes. Didn’t keep your old instant camera from the ’80s? Polaroid just came out with a nifty new instant digital camera that prints your photos with sticky adhesive backs: http://www.polaroid.com/CES/ProductDetail.jsp?folder_id=2534374302037099&prod_code=PG009

- “Activity” guest books: Will there be a lull before the wedding party arrives? Think your guests might need something to occupy themselves or break the ice with their tablemates? The Guest Book Store http://www.guestbookstore.com/index.html provides “testimonial style” guest books, in casual or formal styles, that prompt guests to answer questions and record special wishes for the bride and groom. Each page is collected and assembled into an adorable keepsake.

- Wedding canvases and quilts: Buy a blank canvas from an art supply store and set out a variety of art pens in different colors. Guests can inscribe their wishes, or just sign as witnesses to your special day. To make a wedding quilt, set out fabric squares and fabric pens for your guests to record their best wishes to be sewn together later. Note: This may not be the right idea for a huge wedding.

- Wedding plates and platters: A platter or plate that your guests sign can be a lovely reminder of all those who have witnessed your marriage. It will be a pleasant addition to your kitchen or dining room, where you can look at it daily. Check out the tasteful choices at SayAnythingCeramics.com. They’ll send a special pen for guests to use, and the signatures become permanent later after you bake the piece in the oven.